The present invention relates to articles of upholstered furniture having overlaid padding, such as easy chairs of sofas provided with padded back rests. Known furniture articles of this general type have back rests of the so-called "low-back" type, wherein the back rest extends vertically to substantially the height of the shoulders of a person sitting on the furniture, or they are provided with back rests of the so-called "high-back" type which extend vertically to the height of the head of one seated on the furniture. One purchasing an article of furniture must select between these two kinds of upholstered furniture at the time of purchase. If he selects a "low-back" article of furniture, the effective height of the back rest can be increased by locating the furniture article against a wall, and by placing loose cushions operative to act as head rests on the top of the back rest. However this cannot be done if the low-back article of furniture is positioned in spaced relation to the walls of a room since, in such event, there would be nothing to maintain the loose cushions, placed on top of the back rest, in place and they would therefore simply fall off of the back rest when engaged by the head of one seated on the article of furniture.
In recognition of this present state of the art, it is the primary purpose of the present invention to provide an article of upholstered furniture, of the general type previously described, in which the padded portion of the furniture can be variably arranged even when the article is placed in a room in freely spaced relation to the walls thereof and, more particularly, to provide an easy chair or sofa which has a back rest of normal height that can be converted in simple fashion into a back rest of the high-back type.